The opera novice: Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky - Telegraph The opera novice: Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin perfectly captures teenage angst, says Sameer Rahim. Hannah Pedley, Anna Leese and Mark Stone in Eugene Onegin Photo: FRITZ CURZON Follow When I started on my opera journey, I hoped to hear some hidden gems – works I’d never heard of, let alone heard. Tchaikovsky’s lyrical adaptation of Pushkin’s poem Eugene Onegin is one such gem. Superbly crafted, intense and with dramatically rich music, the opera is up there with Rigoletto and Die Walküre as one of my favourites so far. It helps that I’ve seen Onegin three times since the Autumn (a not-so hidden gem then, if you’re paying attention): Deborah Warner’s traditional-dress production at ENO; the small-scale English Touring Opera version at the Hackney Empire; and, last week, Daniel Slater’s version set before and after the Russian Revolution at Opera Holland Park. It’s also a piece I’ve listened to many times outside the theatre, the swelling music keeping me company on many late-night walks home.

Only after I saw my first Onegin did I get round to reading the poem. The two works are quite different in tone. Tchaikovsky’s opera begins in the Russian countryside and introduces the heroine Tatyana, a bookish girl fond of Richardson's novels, and her sister Olga, a flirt engaged to Lensky, the poet who lives next door. Lensky brings round his friend, the enigmatic Eugene Onegin, and Tatyana swiftly falls for him. Like the obsessive teenager she is, Tatyana writes a letter confessing her feelings . Tchaikovsky doesn’t colour in Onegin's character much early on: he didn't need to. The Russian audience for the opera – first performed in Moscow in 1879 – already knew him well. In Pushkin’s poem Onegin is a seducer who speaks callously of waiting for his rich uncle to die so he can inherit his country estate. They would all have been expecting it when, in the next scene, Onegin dismisses Tatyana’s hopes. They might, however, have been surprised at the shift in tone from poem to opera.

Pushkin was a kind of Russian Byron; his Onegin is deeply witty, the authorial asides as pleasurable as the story. Tchaikovsky was a very different artist, less interested in the rake Onegin than the crushed hopes of Tatyana. He was also working in a different medium. When he first had the idea of adapting Pushkin, he read the poem “over again with rapture and passed a sleepless night, of which the result was a charming plot with words from Pushkin”, as he wrote. The composer transformed this feeling using the trembling strings of the letter-writing scene , in which Tatyana says she is filled with the “rapture of life”. The music also captures well the hysteria of teenage love. Related Articles Wagner's The Ring: 'like Lord of the Rings on speed' 24 Sep 2012 Act two signals a darker turn. On Tatyana’s name-day party, Onegin flirts with Olga, his friend Lensky’s fiancée, and the two men argue. To the horror of the onlookers, they agree to fight a duel. At Holland Park this scene was done chillingly.

The production’s overall conceit was that Tatyana (Anna Leese) and Onegin (Mark Stone) are reliving the bad turns their lives have taken. At the party, rather than impressive but bland ballroom dancing (as was the case at ENO), Tatyana is playfully blindfolded and spun round before Onegin whisks her off in a dance; this action is then repeated again and again, each time more quickly, as if trying to fast-forward a memory you can’t escape. The comic turn in the scene, a French tutor called Monsieur Triquet who sings embarrassing songs to Tatyana, is turned into an alcoholic who leers at her in a parody of her own unrequited love for Onegin. Before Lensky fights his duel, he sings sadly of his lost love, though what really hurts as much as Olga’s betrayal is Onegin’s. (I’m wary of reading too much into this, but while composing the opera Tchaikovsky was extricating himself from a disastrous marriage meant to hide his homosexuality.) When we meet the characters in the final act, five years later, Tatyana has succumbed to a conventional marriage herself. Onegin begs her to take him back but she refuses.

There is no triumph in her voice. They have missed the moment when they might have been happy. All they (and we) are left with is the beautiful consolation of the music. Eugene Onegin | The Opera 101 The Opera 101 Fill out the fields below to contact us! Your name * It seems to me that I am truly gifted with the ability truthfully, sincerely, and simply to express the feelings, moods, and images suggested by a text. In this sense I am a realist and fundamentally a Russian. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky About Eugene Onegin and Vladimir Lensky's duel by Ilya Repin Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin is a radiant example of Russian Lyric Opera. A deeply moving tale packed with big tunes, dances and a heart-stopping duel. As with his ballets, Tchaikovsky brings many symphonic elements to the music, plush orchestrations and highly melodic arias. Onegin is a uniquely Russian opera with a universality that has made it globally popular. None of the characters are easy to associate with and yet the events and their actions ring horribly true.

The piece provides opportunities for three great soloists as well as requiring top-drawer performances from the Chorus. The very start of the opera and also the first appearance of the recurring 'Fate' Motif. The work is subdivided into three acts, seven scenes and 22 numbers but despite these clear divisions, Tchaikovsky advances a leitmotif-like structure spanning outward from Tatyana’s Letter Scene, the centrepiece of the opera. This isn’t Wagner by any means but you’ll hear the same recurring themes throughout, ever shifting towards the final climactic duet. You called him what? When Eugene Onegin first travelled the world it did so largely in translation. The first non-Russian performance was in Prague, conducted by Tchaikovsky, and sung in Czech. When it reached England in 1892 it was sung in English. Today most operas are performed in their the original language but for non-latinate language operas we still have to transliterate names so we can talk about them (good luck pronouncing Евге́ний Оне́гин). Throughout this guide we’ve chosen what we’ve found to be the most common spellings (which aren’t necessarily consistent).

Tatyana keeps her y (you’ll sometimes see Tatiana) as does Lensky but Yevgeniy becomes Eugene, because at some point in history people decided that two y’s were just too many. Onegin can cause a certain amount of grief as it's not pronounced in the manner a native English speaker might expect (no one-gins here please). The clip below should give you an idea of how it should sound. Onegin Pronunciation Eugene Onegin Baritone The title role. Arrogant and effortlessly weary, his life consists of little but partying yet he still finds the time to be bored. Filippyevna Mezzo-soprano Tatyana’s nurse, nanny and confidante of sorts. Her major role is to deliver Tatyana’s letter to Onegin. Lensky Tenor A poet, a dreamer and to his detriment a friend to Onegin. He is engaged to Olga. Madame Larina A widowed landowner and the mother of Tatyana and Olga. Kindly and caring. Olga Contralto Tatyana’s sister and Lensky’s Fiance. More important to the opera for her relationships than herself, Olga is young and pretty and she knows it.

Prince Gremin Bass Prince Gremin appears only briefly in Act III but gets one of the best arias in the whole opera. Married to, and desperately in love with, Tatyana. Tatyana Soprano A young innocent country girl who dreams of the bright lights of the city. The emotional core of the opera. Triquet Tenor Tatyana’s old and slightly wobbly French tutor. He gets a brief moment to shine in his Act II song to Tatyana. Zaretsky Bass Lensky’s second for the duel. A much more significant figure than he might appear as he is the only person who could avert the duel in Act II (see the fun fact on dueling for more on this). Synopsis Act I - Running Time: 75 mins Scene 1 We find ourselves at the country estate of Madam Larina, a middle aged widow with two daughters, Olga and Tatyana. Think Chekhov country, beautiful spring surroundings but exceedingly dull for young Russian people. Larina and the nurse Filippyevna are sitting outside. They can hear the young girls singing and Larina recalls her own young courtship and marriage.

The peasants who work on the estate enter singing a big harvest song that marks the first big dance of the opera. Tatyana is lost in a romantic novel while her younger sister Olga wants to join in with the harvest festivities. Larina tries to tell Tatyana that life isn’t like a novel, but Tatyana is a young dreamer and doesn’t pay much attention. Visitors have arrived. It is Lensky, Olga’s fiance, and his friend Onegin. They enter and quickly Tatyana reveals herself plainly attracted to Onegin. Onegin for himself questions why Lensky would choose Olga over her sister. Lensky on the other hand just delights in Olga’s flirtations. Onegin takes a walk with Tatyana describing his boredom at the countryside (he’s a model of Russian dissatisfaction). Tatyana is unsure how to respond as they go inside for dinner. Onegin and Tatyana from a 1908 edition of Onegin Scene 2 We’re in Tatyana’s bedroom. She pesters Filippyevna to tell her of her youthful loves and marriage. Tatyana states she is in love and asks to be left alone.

Here begins one of the truly great operatic monologues: Tatyana’s Letter Scene. Through her fevered passion she writes a letter to Onegin revealing the force of her love. Day breaks and she gives the letter to Filippyevna. Kristine Opolais sings Tatyana's Letter Scene Scene 3 Outside again Tatyana awaits Onegin. He arrives and plainly tells her his own feelings. He tells her, not altogether unfairly or unkindly, that he is no man for marriage and would simply be bored by it. He is not worthy of such love and can only offer her friendship. More icily he suggests she not be so open in future lest other men take advantage. Unable to reply to this, the curtain falls on a distraught Tatyana. Act II - Running Time: 45 mins Scene 1 Onegin dances with Olga, English Touring Opera Three months have passed. It is Tatyana’s name day (a curious tradition similar to a birthday but held on the day that your name is associated with) and a country ball is being held in her honour. A fabulous waltz is heard and Onegin dances with Tatyana.

Naturally he is bored and quickly grows irritated by those gossiping around him. Blaming Lensky for bringing him he decides to flirt with Olga. The Act II Waltz Olga reciprocates Onegin’s attention and Lensky loses his cool, jealously accusing Olga. Olga cannot see what she has done wrong and Onegin further pushes the situation by dancing with her again. The situation is temporarily defused when Monsieur Triquet, Tatyana’s French tutor, sings a brief song. As the dancing resumes however it all kicks off. Lensky, in front of all the guests, renounces his friendship with Onegin and impetuously challenges him to a duel. Onegin has no choice but to accept (see the fun facts for more on the mindboggling Russian affection for duelling). Tatyana faints as the ball ends in disaster. Lensky (Toby Spence) challenges Onegin (Audun Iversen) © Neil Libbert/ENO Scene 2 We are by the riverbank the following morning.

Lensky awaits Onegin, reflecting on his daft decision to challenge Onegin (he well knows that he will almost certainly lose and won’t be much happier if he kills his friend either). Onegin arrives late and both raise the fact that they have absolutely no wish to go through with the duel. It is too late for taking things back. The duel begins and Onegin kills Lensky. Act III - Running Time: 35 mins Scene 1 The action leaps forward years and we are now in St Petersburg. A grand ball is taking place and here we find Onegin, who predictably is bored. He has spent years travelling around Europe and now reflects on the emptiness of life (particularly his own). The Act III Polonaise Prince Gremin enters with his gorgeous young wife. Shock, horror: it is Tatyana now regal, mature and beautiful. Onegin is taken aback as is Tatyana when she catches sight of him. Gremin tells Onegin of his happiness with his loving wife and introduces her to him (unaware of their past!). Onegin suddenly realizes he is in love with Tatyana and decides to write to her and arrange a private meeting.

Oh how the tables have turned… Scene 2 Tatyana has received a love letter from Onegin. We now find her in Gremin’s house waiting for his arrival. She cannot work out why he has changed… is it her money and status? He enters and denies all cynical motives, he claims to love her deeply. This moves Tatyana greatly but she asks him to leave. Onegin begs but Tatyana explains that though she still loves him, it is impossible and her loyalty must lie with Gremin. She departs tearfully. Onegin is left alone. Tatyana (Anna Netrebko) and Onegin (Dmitri Hvorostovsky) Major Arias Ja nye sposobna k grusti tomnoy Olga Kakoi pre krasnïi etot den Triquet Kogda bï zhizn domashnim krugom Eugene Onegin Puskai pogibnu (Tatiana's Letter Scene) Tatyana Uzhel ta samaja Tatiana (Onegin's Arioso) Eugene Onegin History During the latter half of 1876 and into 1877, Tchaikovsky sought a topic for his next opera.

The suggestion for “Eugene Onegin”, Pushkin’s poetic masterpiece, came to Tchaikovsky when he was visiting friends, an idea that at first struck him as crazy (and struck many critics in exactly the same way even after they’d heard the opera!). The story lacked plot, the situations bland and the conclusion without climax (not to mention the impossibility of capturing on stage one of the novel’s most powerful elements: the self-conscious, first person narrator). He quickly fell head over heels for the tale however and swiftly set to work creating a scenario with Konstantin Shilovsky, the co-librettist. This everyday story was a novelty in the world of opera but Tchaikovsky wrote to his brother, Modest, in May 1877, “How glad I am to be rid of Egyptian princesses, pharaohs, poisonings, and stilted effects of all kinds. What a mine of poetry there is in Onegin”. The opera would come together over the next two years but despite Tchaikovsky’s strong drive, all was not plain sailing. Tchaikovsky and Antonina Milyukova Where Pushkin associated himself with Onegin, Tchaikovsky fell for Tatyana.

Around the time Tchaikovsky began feverish work on Onegin he received a love letter from a long-forgotten student named Antonina Milyukova, not unlike that sent by Tatyana to Onegin. Tchaikovsky was a closet homosexual and had little interest in Milyukova, but fearing himself acting much like the vile Onegin he ended up marrying her! In my mind this is all tied up with the idea of Tatyana, and it seemed to me that I myself had acted incomparably more basely than Onegin, and I became truly angry with myself for my heartless attitude towards this girl who was in love with me. Tchaikovsky Lest we get too washed up in Romanticism it is also true that Tchaikovsky feared his homosexuality becoming public and using a marriage as cover was no doubt also on his mind. In any case the whole enterprise was a total disaster for all involved. They lasted together for six weeks before Tchaikovsky tried to drown himself and then fled with his brother to St Petersburg. Tchaikovsky and Milyukova would never divorce, though they rarely met and poor Milyukova spent the last twenty years of her life in a mental asylum.

After these traumas Tchaikovsky would progress steadily with work on Onegin first in Switzerland and then Italy where he finished the opera in January 1878. Tchaikovsky was proud of the work but feared what might happen if it were given to one of the grand opera houses. He wasn’t even sure it should be an “opera” thinking of it as “lyrical scenes”. As a result he gave the students of the Moscow Conservatory the opportunity to premiere Onegin which they did in March 1878, conducted by Nikolai Rubinstein. After several years of tinkering by Tchaikovsky, particularly in regards to the final scene, Onegin received its professional debut at the Bolshoi Theatre in January 1881. Initial reactions were mixed; many struggled with the very concept of Pushkin’s poetry being manipulated despite the supreme quality of the music. Internationally the opera was performed sporadically, Gustave Mahler conducted the German premiere in 1892, and it reached England the same year though it would take till 1920 for it to first reach the USA.

Fun Facts Poetry Pushkin’s “Onegin” is of note for many reasons but its unusual form is of particular interest (and of particular difficulty for anyone attempting a translation). The book is written almost exclusively in stanzas of iambic tetrameter with the rhyme scheme "AbAbCCddEffEgg". The uppercase letters represent feminine rhymes (A rhyme on two syllables, e.g. passion and fashion) while the lowercase letters represent masculine rhymes (One syllable, e.g. head and bed). This form is often called the "Onegin stanza". Ballet John Cranko made a narrative ballet entitled “Onegin” which closely tracks the episodes of Tchaikovsky’s opera (as opposed to an adaptation from the original text). The score for this ballet is also entirely made up on Tchaikovsky music but interestingly uses nothing from Eugene Onegin. The arranged score, by Kurt-Heinz Stolze, mixes and matches from all over Tchaikovsky’s oeuvre including from his much less well known opera Cherevichki (sometimes called The Tsarina’s Slippers).

Pushkin's operas Onegin the ballet, © Dee Conway/ROH Though many considered Tchaikovsky’s attempt at turning Pushkin’s “Onegin” into an opera foolish (the plot didn’t fit with the conventions of 19th Century opera), Pushkin’s works have formed the basis for more than a dozen significant operatic works. Tchaikovsky himself returned with Mazeppa and The Queen of Spades while we also have Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky, Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka and The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Duels Dueling in Russia was a wildly popular activity, despite having been banned in 1715 by the Emperor because his army kept slaughtering each other (though the threat of hanging can’t have been much of a deterrent considering one of the participants often died anyway). Duels were highly formalized, and it is these rules that eventually force Onegin to shoot despite all his wishes against it. He cannot apologise without first being asked by Lensky’s second, Zaretsky, and as this never comes they are “forced” to duel.

After the Duel, Ilya Repin These dueling practices may seem insane, but Pushkin himself was more than a little fond of duelling. He was involved in nearly 30 throughout his life and was eventually done in by a bullet to the spleen during a duel with Georges d’Anthès. Ending How to end Onegin proved one of the trickiest elements for Tchaikovsky. Not long before the completion of the opera, Tatyana still fell into the arms of Onegin only to be reminded of her fealty by the entrance of Gremin. As you might imagine many were not so impressed to see their heroine still succumbing and Tchaikovsky was encouraged to shift the tone towards Tatyana resolving her situation without help. How Onegin responded varied too, shifting from 'O death, o death! I go to seek thee out!' to ‘Ignominy! ... Anguish! … Oh, my pitiable fate!’. The version we hear today is somewhere between the two (and hinges heavily on how the director wants to stage things) though Onegin’s latter line is usually the one heard.

Clarens The Grave of Nabokov at Clarens The village of Clarens, by Lake Geneva in Switzerland, was the place where Tchaikovsky fled with his brother. His mental health was in tatters after his disastrous marriage and the lake air was supposed to be beneficial. Here he wrote a good chunk of the orchestrations for Onegin as well as several other pieces. This wasn’t Clarens’ only contribution to the musical world as it was also the place where Igor Stravinsky wrote “The Rite of Spring” and “Pulcinella”. What’s more Vladimir Nabokov was buried at Clarens. A remarkable confluence of artists that few villages could compete with! In Brief Librettist Tchaikovsky and Konstantin Shilovsky Language Russian Date of premiere March 29, 1879 Number of Acts 3 Onegin - The Ballet Bag By Linda Ballet September 17, 2010 Onegin Is this ballet for you? Go If: You like story ballets with grand designs and plenty of pashmina Pas de Deux .

You have read and wept through “unhappily ever after” novels like Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind and well… Onegin. Skip if: You are expecting to hear the famous score from Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. The ballet does use Tchaikovsky’s music but not a single bar of the opera. Dream Casts Johan Kobborg offers an unforgettable portrayal of the proud & cynical cad who discovers love too late. Alina Cojocaru is perfect as Tatiana, the girl who evolves from naive romantic into the confident wife who rejects love for marital duty. And this being a signature Stuttgart Ballet piece, we asked our friend and Onegin enthusiast Naomi Mori to send us her dream cast. Not to be missed, she says, are: Evan McKie as Onegin, Sue Jin Kang as Tatiana and Marijn Rademaker as Lensky Alina Cojocaru as Tatiana and Johan Kobborg as Onegin in Cranko's Onegin.

Photo: Dee Conway / ROH © Background John Cranko first had the idea for a ballet based on Alexander Pushkin ‘s verse novel when he choreographed dances for Tchaikovky’s opera Eugene Onegin in 1952. He pitched this to the ROH board at Covent Garden but it was rejected. After a string of successful pieces for Sadler’s Wells Ballet (Pineapple Poll 1951, The Lady and the Fool 1956 and The Prince of Pagodas, 1957), Cranko left London for Stuttgart. There he created one of the most successful ballet adaptations of Romeo & Juliet (1962) and confirmed his flair for dramatic narrative, in the same vein as his contemporary and close friend Kenneth MacMillan (whose own choreographic language would be influenced by Cranko’s). In Stuttgart he received full support from Walter Erich Schäfer – General Manager of the opera and dance companies – to revisit his Onegin project, with the caveat that the opera score should not be used. Instead it fell to Kurt-Heinze Stolze, ballet Kapellmeister , to assemble various little known Tchaikovsky pieces into a ballet score.

Cranko developed a libretto closely following the novel and the ballet premiered 13 April 1965 with Marcia Haydée as Tatiana and Ray Barra as Onegin. Forty five years on, Onegin is considered Cranko’s definitive masterpiece and remains in the repertory of over 20 ballet companies around the world. At the time of its premiere Onegin was hailed a success with audiences and performers, but there was some controversy with opera purists and other personalities (for instance George Balanchine ) who did not approve of the opera score having been discarded. Johan Kobborg as Onegin. Photo: Dee Conway / ROH © Between 1965 and 1967 Cranko revised Onegin several times. He scrapped the original ending of Tatiana kissing her children good night, as this lessened the drama of her last encounter with Onegin. He also removed the prologue where Onegin was seen at his uncle’s deathbed, and had the score re-edited accordingly. The version we are now familiar with was first performed by Stuttgart Ballet in October 1967.

Style The fact that Cranko began his career as a dancer in a highly theatrical company – the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (which later became The Royal Ballet) – played an important part in the development of his style and preference for narrative pieces. In Onegin we see movement filled with dramatic intention, solos and duets which advance the narrative. In the Act I Pas de Deux unrestrained lifts and swift throws represent the heroine’s wild imagination. This contrasts with movements in Act III which are more suggestive of Tatiana’s hesitation in the face of Onegin’s confessed feelings. Solos are also used to communicate something about the character; Lensky’s dance before the duel conveys melancholy but also determination, whereas the series of throws and lifts in the subsequent scene with Olga and Tatiana hint at their state of despair. Group dances serve a dual purpose; either as entertainment device or as backdrop for scenes between the main characters. Johan Kobborg as Onegin. Photo: Dee Conway / ROH © One of Cranko’s choreographic traits is “still pose” inserted into the dance, as if to heighten its emotional impact. Though these poses are not ballet mime per se, they express specific emotions or ideas.

For instance, Tatiana signaling to Onegin that he must leave (end of the third act) or the arm gestures in the last Pas de Deux. These elements give to the interpreters of Cranko choreography – of Onegin in particular – rare opportunities for self-expression and complex character development. Story ‘Eugene Onegin’ Opens Metropolitan Opera Season - The New York Times The New York Times Music |A Fight for Love, in the Met and Out Search A Fight for Love, in the Met and Out ‘Eugene Onegin’ Opens Metropolitan Opera Season Photo Anna Netrebko dancing with Mariusz Kwiecien in “Eugene Onegin.” Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times By tradition the gala opening night of a Metropolitan Opera season is a fashionable and pricey affair. But during his tenure as general manager of the company, Peter Gelb has also made opening night a statement of artistic purpose, as it was on Monday when the Met began the season with a new production of Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” a landmark Russian opera based on the novel in verse by Pushkin.

The production, by Deborah Warner, directed by Fiona Shaw (there are some complications to this story), starred the appealing Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien as the dashing but aloof Onegin, a bored aristocrat; the glamorous Russian soprano Anna Netrebko as Tatiana, the bookish young dreamer who falls impulsively for Onegin; and the Russian maestro Valery Gergiev conducting an insightful and rhapsodic, if sometimes untidy, account of Tchaikovsky’s great score. Opening nights under Mr. Gelb have become a gift to the people of New York. The performance was broadcast live on huge outdoor video screens in Lincoln Center Plaza and Times Square. As things turned out, Mr. Gelb also felt compelled to make another kind of statement on this opening night. For weeks an online petition had been gathering signatures (more than 9,000 to date) calling for the Met to dedicate opening night to gay Russians as a protest against the law signed in June by President Vladimir V. Putin banning “propaganda on nontraditional sexual relationships.” As the general director of the storied Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Mr. Gergiev has received crucial support from Mr.

Putin and the government. He and Ms. Netrebko, longtime colleagues, were open advocates for Mr. Putin’s election last year. Continue reading the main story In addition, a contingent of about three dozen protesters stood near Lincoln Center Plaza on Monday calling for Mr. Gergiev and Ms. Netrebko to speak out against Mr. Putin’s policies. And in the house, just before the start of the opera, activists in the uppermost balcony shouted, “Putin, end your war on Russian gays” and more. After a couple of minutes, the demonstrators were led out and the opera proceeded without interference. Photo Eugene Onegin Mariusz Kwiecien and Anna Netrebko in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times The opening-night program book included an insert with a statement by Mr.

Gelb, first published on Sunday by Bloomberg News, in which, while deploring the “tyranny of Russia’s new antigay laws,” he explains why it would be inappropriate for the Met to dedicate a particular performance to a social or political cause, that the Met cannot be “a vehicle for waging nightly battles against the social injustices of the world.” It has been terrible to see the rights of gay people in Russia trampled upon. Still, to make the Met the target of this call for action seems not entirely fair. Street protest is in the best American tradition and the activists seized this opportunity to put their case directly to Mr. Gergiev and Ms. Netrebko. But interrupting a performance in the opera house on a high-pressured opening night is another matter, though these protesters clearly cooperated with the security guards. Advertisement Continue reading the main story For now, let me put aside these difficult questions and get to the new “Eugene Onegin.” Mr. Gelb has raised the stakes for every new production at the Met by talking up how essential it is for opera to bring in today’s liveliest and most innovative directors and designers. Some of the productions on his watch have met that standard.

Some have been curiously bland, or nothing special. This disappointing “Eugene Onegin” belongs among the roster of also-rans. It replaces a 1997 production by the director Robert Carsen that was visually arresting, with an almost abstract look, full of autumnal colors and a stage floor covered with fallen leaves. There was one problem: the set had no real walls or ceiling to help project the voices into the house. Still, that production was bolder than this muddled new one. Ms. Warner’s staging, with sets by Tom Pye, is a coproduction with the English National Opera. It shifts the story’s setting from the 1820s to roughly the late 1870s, contemporaneous with the years Tchaikovsky wrote the piece. Handsome costumes of the period are designed by Chloe Obolensky. The opening scene is typically set, as per the stage directions, in a garden of the Larin estate in the country, where we meet the sisters Tatiana and Olga and their fretful mother, Madame Larina. In this production the action takes place in what looks like a sunroom that opens to a grove.

Dingy curtains cover wall-size windows. Lots of work takes place on a country estate and this drab room looks like a real workplace, which is the problem: you get tired of it. Photo Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecien rehearsed “Eugene Onegin” at the Metropolitan Opera. Credit Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Olga (the strong mezzo-soprano Oksana Volkova) and Tatiana sing a wistful song together. The pensive Tatiana lives in a world of books. The vivacious Olga has a fiancé, the boyish Lenski, an aspiring poet (the excellent Polish tenor Piotr Beczala, in bright, ringing voice). Lenski arrives with his friend Onegin, who has inherited a neighboring estate from his uncle, though he has no interest in running it. Flirting with Tatiana amuses the superior Onegin. This is all it takes to unleash pent-up fantasies of romantic love in Tatiana. In the remarkable Letter Scene, Tatiana rashly stays up half the night writing a letter to Onegin declaring her love.

Here, instead of taking place in the privacy of her bedroom, a writing table is set up in the drab sunroom from the previous scene, which makes no sense. The dramatic tension of the performance in Act I seemed unfocused and tentative, which may be a result of the crisis that arose in this production . In early August Ms. Warner pulled out as director to undergo surgery. Her friend Ms. Shaw, the acclaimed actress and director, took over. Ms. Shaw has directed several opera productions, but never at the Met. Moreover, she was already directing a production of Britten’s “Rape of Lucretia” for the Glyndebourne Festival’s fall tour, which overlapped with “Eugene Onegin” at the Met. So, with the exception of one hectic day, Ms. Shaw has not been at the Met in more than two weeks, including Monday’s opening night. Mr. Gelb said in an interview that Ms. Warner’s staging was already blocked in detail and that Ms. Shaw left copious notes. But what about the last-minute changes that typically take place during dress rehearsals? Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address.

Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy It seemed as if the cast, and even the usually exemplary Met Chorus, was feeling its way during the first act. By the second act, the focus and sweep picked up. Ms. Netrebko sang Tatiana to acclaim at the Vienna State Opera in April, so she knows what she thinks of this character and the music, and how to savor the words in her native Russian. During the opening scenes she conveys Tatiana’s mousy demeanor. But the plummy richness and shimmering sensuality of her voice reveal inner feelings in this young woman waiting to be tapped by a man like Onegin. In the Letter Scene she went from hushed expressions of insecurity and longing to full-throated bursts of desire and soaring lyricism. Mr. Beczala’s muscular, youthful tenor voice is ideal for Lenski. He brings out the charming goofiness of this young man’s love for the smitten Olga, until he turns hothead when he sees Onegin dancing seductively with her and challenges him to a fateful duel. Mr. Kwiecien’s Onegin is a handsome and entitled man who takes all that for granted.

His voice, while dark and virile, did not on this night have as much innate vocal charisma as Ms. Netrebko’s or Mr. Beczala’s. Still, Mr. Kwiecien’s singing is volatile and exciting. In a way, Mr. Gergiev directs the production from the pit. He is a musician who values spontaneity to the point of impetuosity. There were moments when the playing of the orchestra was a little scrambled. Still, Mr. Gergiev knows the Tchaikovsky style like few other conductors. At times he had the Met orchestra sounding like a Russian ensemble with reedy woodwinds, mellow brass and dark, throbbing strings. Advertisement After the performance the cast appeared on the outdoor balcony overlooking the plaza, where the outdoor audience remained to applause. The protesters were gone. The issues they raised remain. “Eugene Onegin” runs through Dec. 12 at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center; (212)362-6000, metoperafamily.org.

A version of this review appears in print on September 25, 2013, on Page C1 of the New York edition with the headline: A Fight For Love, In the Met And Out. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe Cheat Sheet: Eugene Onegin | The Opera Blog The Opera Blog A cheat’s guide to the beautiful Russian opera. Who was the composer? Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky had a gift for melody that catapulted him out of cloistered Russian music circles and made the west take notice. He took up piano at 5, could read music by 8 and wrote his first waltz in response to his mother’s death when he was just 14. Despite his success with works such as the beautiful overture for Romeo and Juliet, Russian critics remained suspicious of his music for most of the composer’s life – believing it was “not Russian enough”. Tchaikovsky wrote Eugene Onegin during a year abroad after the disastrous dissolution of a two-and-a-half month marriage. By the time of his death, Tchaikovsky was respected at home and abroad – although it would be many years before Eugene Onegin was performed overseas.

Tchaikovsky died suddenly at the age of 53, supposedly of cholera. Some scholars suggest it was self-inflicted. What happens in the story? Tatyana is young and innocent: she spends her days reading novels and dreaming of literary heroes. That is, until she meets Eugene Onegin – a friend of her sister’s lover, the poet Lensky. Tatyana is smitten, and pours her heart into a letter to the stranger. But Onegin is unmoved and offers only his friendship. When Lensky tricks his friend into attending a ball on Tatyana’s property, Onegin takes his revenge, flirting with Olga and arousing his friend’s jealousy. A duel is announced, a shot is fired, and a few years pass before Tatyana and Onegin meet again. First loves are not easily forgotten – but what will their meeting bring? Who are the main players? Photos by Lisa Tomasetti What’s the big hit? This clip is of soprano Anna Netrebko singing in the Metropolitan Opera’s recent production. The letter scene! Tatyana sings a stunning aria as she pens her letter to Onegin, where Tchaikovsky perfectly captures the stirrings of first love.

This production is … Kasper Holten. Photo by: Sim Canetty-Clarke … the brainchild of Kasper Holten – the impossibly young and visionary Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. As the story of the opera is told through the eyes of Tatyana and Onegin as they look back on their lives, Holten wanted to find a way to represent memory on stage. Thus, he doubled the two leads with young dancers, who represent the young Onegin and Tatyana in pivotal moments on stage. Photo by Lisa Tomasetti Holten wanted to explore how our experiences and understanding of our own character colour our memories. The set is therefore a nondescript (though beautiful) period building, which forms a blank canvas for projections and backdrops as the house literally “fills up” with memories. Holten explains the concept in his own words here . A little history Elena Samokish-Sudkovskaya painted scenes from Eugene Onegin in 1908.

Tchaikovsky loved the tale of Eugene Onegin and once he had written the opera, found himself reluctant to offer it to the seasoned opera professionals of the Bolshoi Theatre, terrified the conventions of opera at the time would choke the intimate story. A group of students at Moscow Conservatory were thus the first to stage the opera, in 1879. Two years later, the Bolshoi Theatre had its turn. It was nearly a decade before other European houses staged the piece (they likely saw it as a Russian curiosity). Conversation starters Tchaikovsky was completely opposed to the idea of writing an opera based on Eugene Onegin (when someone proposed it, he wrote to a friend “it struck me as wild and I made no reply”). But a few months later, he found himself transfixed by the letter scene of Pushkin’s novel. “I had so familiarised myself with the figure of Tatyana that she had become for me a living person,” he wrote. The first Western premieres of the opera were not sung in Russian. The Metropolitan Opera in New York performed an Italian translation and the first English performance was sung in English. Want more? Young Australian star soprano Nicole Car will sing her first Tatyana in this production.

Watch as she describes how she’ll approach the naive heroine. Curious? For more information and tickets to see Eugene Onegin, click here . 11 Responses to “Cheat Sheet: Eugene Onegin” Sandra Miles-Wood Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky) - Synopsis SARETSKY Bass TRIQUET, a Frenchman . Tenor As the characterization of the opera as "lyrical scenes" shows, the poet offers no substantial work, but follows closely, often even word for word, Pushkins epic tale, with which one must be fully acquainted -- as is the case with everybody in Russia -- in order to be able to follow the opera properly. Act I. Eugene Onegin has been called from a wild life of pleasure to his sick uncle, of whose property he takes possession after the uncles sudden death. He has brought with him from the big city a profound satiety of all enjoyments and a deep contempt for the society of mankind in his solitary country seat. Here, however, he forms a friendship for a young fanatic, the poet Lenski. Through him he is introduced to Larina, a woman who owns an estate.

Her two daughters, Olga and Tatiana, correspond to the double nature of their mother, whose youth was a period of sentimentality in which she allowed herself to be affected like others by Richardsons novels, raved over Grandison, and followed the wild adventures of Lovelace with anxious thrills. Life later had made her rational, altogether too rational and insipid. Olga now has become a cheerful, superficial, pleasureful silly young girl; Tatiana, a dreamer whose melancholy is increasing through reading books which her mother had once used. Lenski is betrothed to Olga. Tatiana recognizes at her first sight of Onegin the realization of her dreams. Her heart goes out to meet him and in her enthusiasm she reveals all her feelings in a letter to him. Onegin is deeply stirred by this love; a feeling of confidence in mankind that he had not known for such a long time awakens in him. But he knows himself too well. He knows that every faculty as a husband is departing from him. And now he considers it his duty not to disappoint this maiden soul, to be frank. He refuses her love.

He takes the blame on himself, but he would not have been the worldly wise man if his superiority to the simple country child had not been emphasized chiefly on this account. But Tatiana only listens to the refusal, she is very unhappy. Onegin remains her ideal, who now will be still more solitary, in spite of it. Act II. Tatianas name-day is being celebrated with a big hall. Onegin goes there on Lenskis invitation. The stupid company with their narrow views about him vex him so much that he seeks to revenge himself on Lenski for it, for which he begins courting Olga. Lenski takes the jest in earnest; it comes to a quarrel between the friends Lenski rushes out and sends Onegin a challenge. Social considerations force Onegin to accept the challenge; a dueling fanatic landlord, Saretsky stirs Lenskis anger so severely that a reconciliation is not possible. This part in Pushkins work is the keenest satire, an extraordinarily efficacious mockery of the whole subject of dueling. There is derision on Onegins side, too, for he chooses as his second his coachman Gillot.

But the duel was terribly in earnest; Lenski falls, shot through by his opponents bullet. (This scene recalls a sad experience of the poet himself; for he himself fell in a duel by the bullet of a supercilious courtier, Georg dAnthès-Heckeren, who died in Alsace in 1895). Act III. Twenty-six years later. Onegin has restlessly wandered over the world. Now he is in St. Petersburg at a ball given by Prince Gremin. There, if he sees aright, Princess Gremina, that accomplished woman of the world is "his" Tatiana. Now his passion is aroused in all its strength. He must win her. Tatiana does not love him with the same ardour as before. When she upbraids Onegin that he loves her only because has now become a brilliant woman of the world it is only a means of deceiving herself and her impetuous adorer as to her real feelings. But finally her true feeling is revealed. She tells Onegin that she loves him as before. But at the same time she explains that she will remain true to her duty as a wife. Broken-hearted Onegin leaves her.

Search this Site Eugene Onegin — Productions — Royal Opera House Tchaikovsky’s most famous opera is given an elegiac telling in Kasper Holten’s production. Most recent performance There are currently no scheduled performances of Eugene Onegin. It was last on stage 19 December 2015—7 January 2016 as part of the Winter 2015/16 season. The Story When Tatyana is introduced to the dashing, unconventional Onegin, she believes that he is the hero of her dreams. He coldly rejects her. Bored, he flirts with her sister Olga, outraging Lensky, Olga’s fiancé and Onegin’s only friend. Read more… (Contains spoilers) Background Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky’s best-loved opera, Eugene Onegin, is based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel of the same name. It provided Tchaikovsky with an opportunity to present everyday and authentic experiences on the stage, in contrast to the epic narratives that characterized much European opera of the time. After initial consternation that Tchaikovsky should set to music this pinnacle of Russian literature, Eugene Onegin quickly became a firm favourite with Russian audiences.

Within a decade of its 1879 premiere it had been performed over one hundred times in St Petersburg. Tchaikovsky’s deep sympathy for his heroine Tatyana is shown in the tenderness of her music. Her yearning string motif opens the opera and it gains full expression in her letter aria in Act I – one of the most intense solo scenes ever written for the soprano voice. In Kasper Holten’s production, the turbulence of Tatyana and Onegin’s youth is contrasted with the self-realization they gain in later life. The staging foregrounds the power of memory and the futile desire to rewrite the past. News and features 2 November 2016 Russia’s second city has inspired numerous great ballets, operas, plays and works of literature.

Question: Who wrote the book on which Tchaikovsky based his opera, "Eugene Onegin"?
Answer: Alexander Pushkin